It was pretty obvious that Jinger Duggar's book exposing her family's cult-like religion, the Institute in Basic Life Principles, wasn't going to go over well with her parents. But now, it seems Jim Bob and Michelle are very publicly shunning Jinger in the wake of her book's success.
Jinger explained why she walked away from the religion she grew up in.
In her book, Becoming Free Indeed, Jinger didn't shy away from describing the religion-based fear she felt growing up in the IBLP along with the restrictions that it puts on women in the group, even after they become adults.
She was very careful to blame the IBLP and not her parents for the more difficult parts of her upbringing, but that doesn't seem to matter to Jim Bob and Michelle.
Now, it appears Jim Bob and Michelle are making their feelings known.
The family has been notoriously silent on social media for months, and after Josh Duggar's arrest (and subsequent conviction), they've all but stopped posting on Instagram.
They made an exception this week, though, when they shared a link to James' YouTube vlog about his European trip, which raised more than a few eyebrows.
They promoted James' YouTube channel on the Duggar family's official account.
Though the Instagram Stories post has since expired on the app, The Hollywood Gossip managed to capture a screenshot.
In this case, Jim Bob and Michelle's silence is speaking louder than words. They couldn't give Jinger a shout-out to promote her new book, but they could post about James' YouTube channel?
It really says a lot about where Jinger stands with her parents without saying anything at all. They may not agree with the contents of her book, but usually parents would be pretty proud of their daughter making the New York Times' bestseller list multiple weeks in a row.
Most of Jinger's family is in Israel right now.
It would seem that the Duggars — minus a few of their adult children — have fled the country in order to escape the backlash that is coming for them after Jinger's book release.
Of course, Jinger isn't on this trip, and we can probably guess why.
This could have an impact on Jinger's relationship with her family forever.
We're sure she knew it was a risk she was taking by publishing her book, but it really is sad to see the way things are truly playing out.
Maybe one day, Jim Bob and Michelle will see the light, but at this point, it really doesn't seem likely that they'll ever change their ways.
